World Dominance

 On any given day, our family text thread is filled with numbers. 

956

937

896

The boys are obsessed with an app called MapTap.

It's a daily geography game where you identify five specific locations on a 3D globe. Doug, Joshua, and Jason are on it daily, mainly trying to figure out how to one-up each other. 

Joshua happens to be very good at this. More often than not, he is the high scorer of the day.

And he is not afraid to show his sassiness when he pinpoints an especially obscure location.

This is a typical conversation. 

Joshua's consistent high scores have caused Jason to wonder, "He's at school when he does this. Maybe he's sitting in class in front of a MAP."

But we've all taken turns watching him as he taps away at home. Nothing out of the ordinary. Which makes Jason and Doug even madder.

You'll notice Michael and I rarely take part in this. We judge from afar. And learn a little bit more about geography along the way.

They love to read

When I first started this blog, I had no fear the children would read it. They could barely walk, so they were otherwise occupied. They had other skills they needed to master first.

But now, the boys visit this site regularly for stories about their babyhood. I think they mostly look at pictures.

And they have questions.

"Why is Joshua in ALL of the posts?" (I really don't think that's true).

"How come you don't have any pictures of Michael?"

"What do you mean?" I ask. "TOTALLY not true."

"Well, look at this one." This from Jason. It even says, "Michael is 5 years old!"

"But, look at it. It has pictures of Joshua all through it."

And I have to admit, there is a little bit of proof.

See for yourself.

Catch the post about Michael's 5th birthday here.

So, tonight, I'm rectifying it.

Now that he's in middle school, Michael and I have so much more time to spend together. And I'm so very thankful for that time. He talks about his new friends (one of his new friends has a boat - see the picture below from a recent trip on the water), Academic Challenge as well as loving his new Middle School. We are so thrilled to see Michael so happy!

Meets, matches & games

What a difference two years makes.

One of the last posts I wrote before this blog's hiatus focused solely on baseball.

For several years, it's all we knew.

Home from school, snack, homework, baseball practice, dinner, bed. 6-hour double-headers, sunflower seeds, peanuts, bleachers and loads of Sunday fun.

That was the routine for a very, very long time, and I thought it would continue for years to come. 

But right after Cooperstown (pictures and stories to come at a later date), Jason decided no more dugouts and pop flies.

Now it's all about tackles.

We're firmly into football. What?! Football? Yes, Jason played last year and then again this year. You know it's here to stay when we see him and his ear-splitting grin as he walks off the football field.

 
See? Can't believe Grandma and Grandpa are able to smile, too, standing so close to him. He puts his all into those games. Whew!

The football season just wrapped up and he's now practicing for basketball season. We ask him constantly whether baseball is in his future - as in, "Will you be needing any of the countless bats, helmets or baseballs we have stored in our garage?"

"No."

That's the same answer I get from Michael when I ask him about baseball, swimming, or basketball.

Luckily, I think we have found a sport he actually enjoys.

Tennis. We have started to play tournament games with kids his age, and let's just say his first season was the warm-up round. Looking forward to a much better showing in the winter. We love watching him play!


 

Speaking of swimming... Finally! I have one who may like it enough to continue with it. I forced Jason and Michael to do at least one season of swim team in order to beef up their water skills. Joshua has really started taking to the competition of the meets, though, coming in first in all his events in his swimming trials.

We'd actually never seen a first-place ribbon in this sport before, something we make sure Jason and Michael realize.

Look! So many pretty colors!

This past weekend, Joshua was part of a relay and the entire team won first place. Again, a first for us, so I had to document it.

It has already been a very busy holiday season and as usual, we kicked all of it off with the Grand Illumination. This time, we took our neighbors. There were 16 of us and we had a blast!

Happy holidays to all of YOU!

We're back!

I had forgotten the joy I received in sharing the kids' moments.

Over the Thanksgiving holiday 2016, I happened to think about this blog. I went online to see if it was still there. And, thank goodness! It's still standing.

I went back in time.

Funny stories, pictures from homes, vacations and visits past, incredible memories.

From the last time I posted, in 2013, to today, late 2016, much has changed. The boys are bigger (much bigger), they have more to say, and they are simply brimming with personality. I tried to get them to read about their young lives. They were not interested. But us adults? Laughing until we were crying at some of the things these children said and did. A lot has happened in the last three years, since I last posted. So I will attempt to catch you up. In 2012, this was our trio. Kids, right?

 

Today, they are boys, and for one of them at least, a young man.

 

Joshua will always be our baby, and he knows it.

We all call him Baby. For a little while, we made a concerted effort to stop calling him, "Baby," and it felt really weird. So we all call him, "Baby," now.

Even Michael.

I was looking at Joshua the other day - his long legs, messed-up hair (you know, sticking up in the back no matter what I do) and ready smile - and I thought, "He no longer looks like a baby. He is a boy."

But then, I said, "Baby, it's time to wash up and get to bed."

And he said, "Ok."

Ice skating, running and baseball

It certainly wouldn't feel like spring without baseball. But before the season gets into full swing, the kids did a bit of ice skating. We were so thrilled to have so many of Michael's friends join us in the celebration of his eighth birthday. Eight! So hard to believe. He had a great time ice skating. They even had these walkers that "new" skaters could use on the ice. Once the kids got better, the employees took those walkers away. Despite that loss, everyone seemed to enjoy running around on the ice. Once they were done skating, we sugared them up with cake and ice cream, and then sent everyone home. :) Ice skates and running shoes. Once again, Jason and Michael ran the Final Mile, sporting some shiny new medals. Next year, it might be time for a longer race. Baseball is also keeping us busy, with sometimes as many as three practices a week, and that's just for Jason. Joshua is also playing on a team this season. It's t-ball and he loves it, once he is on the field.
 The challenge, though, is getting him there in the first place.

 And one baseball game to start the season off, but this time, we were just spectators. The family enjoyed a night out, watching the big boys play.
 Here's Jason with his team. They had such a good time! And soon, it will be their turn to be on the field!

Travel journal 2012

We have been so lucky to do a bit of traveling with the kids. Here's a look back.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Turn your favorite photos into a photo book at Shutterfly.com.

Summer 2012

The summer of 2012 is drawing to a close. Some kids we know are already back in class. Not ours. We still have another couple of weeks left of their vacation. Looking back, though, it seems like so much has already been packed into their time off. We started out the warm season with some strawberry picking! The kids had a blast and we still have some of the yummy fruit in our freezer. Just great for smoothies.

Joshua finished up his freshman "baseball" season with a trophy that was almost bigger than his head. He had a great time with his teammates. I would say he enjoyed the baseball cupcake at that party more than chasing a baseball during the games.

Joshua is saying goodbye to his preschool in order to go to the same one that Jason and Michael did. He loved hanging out with his friends, though, and I know he will miss them. I have to admit, I'm not too worried about him. He pretty much enjoys wherever he goes.

At the beginning of the summer (boy, that seems like so long ago), we took a boat ride through Downtown. A lovely cruise. The boys also enjoyed playing with Peyton and Lennox!

This summer, we made it to the zoo and the kids were fascinated by the animals as much as they were by the life-sized water fountains.

We always love seeing Austin, Leo, Roman and now Baby Chase! The boys really got along well and worked together, blowing up balloons. That has been THE activity of the summer, for sure. On a trip to Northern Virginia, we also paid a visit to Georgetown University, unexpectedly. We decided to visit the area and found a parking spot that happened to be right in front of the university. A tour group was getting started to make their way through campus, so we joined in! The kids were the youngest there, by far, but they really enjoyed walking through the courtyards and taking a tour of some of the buildings. In fact, Michael told me could see himself there one day. We had better start saving up!

And, early in the summer, all the boys went to the beach...not our beach, but Hilton Head, South Carolina! There, they met up with Ezekiel, Elijah, Grandma and Grandpa. They had a blast!

This summer has gone by too quickly, but we're thrilled to have so many wonderful memories to share.

Fussy "baby"

Joshua has been a typical four-year-old this week, wanting independence one minute and enjoying "being the baby" the next. Today, he was giving me plenty of grief and I was getting pretty angry with him. If he doesn't get his way (usually when he's tired), he won't budge. Very stubborn. He paused a moment and said, "On Friday, I won't be fussy." I said, "Well, I'm in luck. Today is Friday." Not event a beat later. "Oh, I meant Wednesday."

On the water

The kids went on their first boat ride last weekend. They were mesmerized. And hungry, as you can see by the picture.

After quite a bit of pizza and soda, they posed for a picture.

Have a great weekend!

Baseball on the brain

Whew! The season is almost over, and we're thankful. At least I am. We all certainly have baseball on the brain, though. We were passing by a construction zone the other day and Joshua says, pointing to the porta potties, "I think that's going to be a baseball field because it has a baseball bathroom."

Joshua has really enjoyed his first season of t-ball. We might see him on the field again one day. The baby had to have four shots recently for his four-year-old checkup. He cried for just a moment, but was so good during the ordeal. How quickly time flies. Jason and Michael were there for the "event" and afterward Jason said, "I'm not surprised he didn't cry, because we beat up on him a lot." That is the truth. Speaking of getting beaten up, it has been a roller coaster ride on the baseball field.

Jason is doing kid pitch right now and we watch the games with our breath held, and our hands over our eyes. He is either getting hit by a ball or pelting someone else.

He looks the part of the pitcher, though, doesn't he?

It hasn't been all about baseball, though. We had the chance to spend some time picking strawberries with Grandma and Grandpa.

We still have LOTS of strawberries left over. Yummm. Also yummy was a lunch I had with Joshua at his school. Look at my little ham with his friends! I can't believe the school year is almost over!

On Grounds

A busy, busy spring and a wonderful road trip to Charlottesville, where we got the chance to catch up with Grandma and Grandpa.

Jason's Destination Imagination Team made it to the State Championships and we were happy to pay a visit to my alma mater to cheer him and his team on. The team did not go on from there, but we are so proud of their hard work and all they accomplished. While I enjoyed showing the kids around Grounds, all they wanted to do was run on the grass.

Spring also means many baseball games. Joshua loves it! It might be a toss up as to whether he enjoys baseball more than the post-game snack. In any case, he enjoys running the bases.

Disney

We had a great time at Disneyworld. It is truly the most magical place on earth, and everywhere we went, people encouraged us to have a "magical" day. So we did. Joshua had a blast the entire time, despite some discomfort you'll read about later.

We probably should separate our Disney time, though, to hours spent at the parks and hours spent at the pool. To be honest, it would probably be about equal.

We were lucky to have stayed on Disneyworld property, at Saratoga Springs. It was truly a beautiful place, with fountains and walking trails everywhere. The kids did not care about any of that. They saw the spray parks and the slides and that was all she wrote.

I think we spent every afternoon at the pool (morning time was for the parks), where Jason and Michael were able to frolic in the water. The property had several pools with different kinds of splash parks. They tested everything out and generally made the most of the outdoor areas. Joshua did, too. But, we didn't realize he was probably enjoying the water too much, drinking much of it while he enjoyed the slides and climbing toys. Joshua is fairly healthy, but he threw up twice and had diarrhea once--the kinds of maladies you keep kids home from school for. But this is Disney. And even he didn't want to miss a minute of it. I just cleaned him up, scrounged up some fresh clothes, and, we went back out! Thank goodness for washing machines and dryers in the rooms. We put them to good use.

We figured Jason and Michael would be a little too old for some of the Disney characters. And we were right. Joshua, well, he may have been too young. Of course, a "menacing" 5-foot-tall Minnie Mouse coming after you with her arms outspread might scare the bejeezus out of anyone. Joshua was no exception. This is not my best photography work, since the sun is in the way. But you can clearly see Joshua trying to get as far away as possible from the creature in the polka dot dress. That was Day One, when we visited Hollywood Studios.

The highlight of Hollywood Studios, and probably the entire trip, was Jason and Michael's admission into the Jedi Training Academy. We had heard from friends this was a must-not-miss event, in gold stars. Agreed. It was worth getting up super early to stand in line. It was worth being bumped from our place in line to get another spot, to stand in line.

As members of Yoda's team in training, they were either going to fight Darth Vadar or Darth Maul. The boys eagerly waited for their chance to show off their skills in front of Darth Maul. Can't you tell? They wielded those light sabers with confidence. You'll be happy to know Darth Maul ran away, beaten back by the power of The Force. The one thing you can't fault Disney for is their production value. The actors were great, they were engaging, funny and the kids have a memory I hope they'll cherish for at least a month. Day two brought us to Animal Kingdom and some really up close and person views of animals. We had a great time there, too. The boys tested their musical skills a bit.

They "drove" around.

And, another highlight, they took a load off, and searched for bones, "buried" underground.

Day three, we ventured into the Magic Kingdom.

Though I'm not sentimental, even I was blown away by Cinderella's Castle. I haven't been to Disney in YEARS and the views take you back to childhood. Speaking of views, Amah, Akong, Joshua and I waited in line for two hours for a glimpse of HER: Rapunzel. Joshua could speak of nothing else when he found out we were heading to Disneyworld. "Tangled" is his favorite movie, hands down, and he is able to sing many of the songs in the film. Plus, if you watch him long enough (and make sure he doesn't see you), he acts out scenes. He has it bad for Rapunzel. But look at this. Joshua usually has a charming little smile and he knows it. But the sight of the princess must have done something to his mouth muscles. We never saw a normal grin from our #3 while we had the opportunity to visit Rapunzel's garden.

Here's where it gets weirder. Jason and Michael also got the chance to step into the enchanted land. And, look, they're smiling. I normally have to pay them to look happy. But, here they are, next to Joshua, who looks like he ate something bad.

No worries, though. Our Disney vacation provided us with some great memories and wonderful pictures.

On Day four, Jason, Michael, Doug and Tim went to visit the Harry Potter world at Universal and Joshua and I had the day to ourselves. We took a turn around the Tomorrowland Speedway and afterward, he turns to me and sighs, "All that driving made me tired." It took us twelve hours door to door to get to Disney, but I would say, although all that driving made us tired, it was well worth the trip.